The Past V. The Future In The Democratic Party

From dangerously failed policies and brutal incompetence, to an immunity to tell the truth and work in the best interest of their constituents, members of Congress have eliminated the hopes and dreams that so many Americans tirelessly worked for.


Unfortunately, the junior Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton, has been encapsulated in the failed policies of Washington as an individual who consistently touts her thirty years of experience (marginal at best), and unquestionably deserves to be labeled as the candidate of the past who's overwhelmingly out of touch with the values, opinions, and interests of everyday people.


How can she expect to run a White House when she can't even run her campaign? It's as if a baseball player in Triple AAA continuously batted below .200, but expected to perform exceedingly well once he was promoted to the major leagues. That's not how it works.


As the weeks before Mr. Obama is officially nominated, one component is evident. He's the future of the Democratic Party and the glistening ray of hope that will catapult to victory in the fall against Republican John McCain.

Obama: Proud to be an American

From the lakes of Minnesota
to the hills of Tennessee:

Obama is clearly a patriot who is putting the good of the country ahead of his own personal goals, an inspiring and visionary leader. His impact on our national dialog will last for years regardless of what office he holds. Set to music by Lee Greenwood, this is a stirring portrait of the Senator from Illinois.

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Barack Obama On Capital Hill To Meet and Greet House :Leaders

Fresh from his win over Senator Hillary Clinton in North Carolina and his near-tie with her in Indiana, thus increasing his delegate lead over her and with the addition of more Superdelegates has only seven fewer lined up for him than Clinton as of this writing and stands at 173 delegates away from the needed 2025 to clinch the Democratic Presidential Nomination.

Obama was doing a meet-and-greet, much as Clinton herself had done a day before. This video was made during that event.

VentureBeat's Matt Marshall @ Startup Camp San Francisco

Matt Marshall was formerly a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and who started the company VentureBeat.com in 2006. We first met when I attended his party at the Amsterdam in San Francisco, and then ran into each other at Startup Camp San Francisco, where he took time to talk with me while we were in the chow line there.

As for Startup Camp itself, it was great for networking, but I didn't get out of it what I was looking for, which was focused, specific discussion of problems and issues that all startups face. For the most part, the discussion groups had general conversations and were too large in some cases to be effective on a personal level.

Myth of Invincibility: Obama, Hillary, and us

Combat soldiers are famous for and know about something called the "myth of invincibility". It is the completely mythological notion that disaster will strike all around you and harm others, but you will survive. Senator Obama certainly did not start out as inevitable in the race, even in his own estimation - but many thought Senator Clinton was.

The untold story is about us, the citizens of the United States. We have shown that we too believe in the Myth of Invincibility. We have stood by Obama through the early stages of Hillary's silly attacks when she investigated Obama's kindergarten essays. We have stood by Obama when the media proclaimed that his campaign was over, twice, once with the bitter comment, and then with the Wright issue.

We investigate the issues, we blog and comment, we campaign and phone bank, and we fund his campaign. Charles Kriete was a clergyman, and a chaplain in the army, and unlike any other clergy, he also taught strategy at the Army War College. He authored the first critical in-house analysis of military strategy in Vietnam. He was also the only clergyman in or out of uniform who was assigned to the Strategic Studies Institute, and awarded the Military Occupational Status (MOS) of Strategic Analyst. After 15 years in retirement, he has been selected to join the Distinguished Fellows Society of the War College - his words and thoughts form the core of this article.

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Clinton Lost Black Democratic Base - Can't Win Without It

In launching what many feel has been a loser strategy Senator Clinton too a number of actions that have served to virtually eliminate her Black support. For the first time in Democratic Party history since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, a presidential candidate close to the nomination can't count on Blacks for support.

Now -- according to CNN's American Morning -- her African American support is down to "single digits". That means over 90 percent of Blacks don't back her -- or more to the point support Senator Barack Obama. Thus, one can make the argument that Clinton would have a harder time wining a race against John McCain, because Blacks don't support her and may even jump over to the Republican Party to help Senartor John McCain.

Ouch.

New Dodge Challenger Like The Old Dodge Challenger.

Dodge came out with a new Challenger, which reminds me of the old Challenger of the 70s, but I guess that's the point.

Obama Wins North Carolina; Almost Indiana; Clinton Should Drop Out

After weeks of being bombed with constant Rev. Wright stories and attempts to define Obama as a "Black candidate" we have the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, where Clinton was supposed to win by 10 percent -- she didn't -- and was to come close to Obama in North Carolina by coming within single digits -- she didn't do that either.

Instead, Barack Obama won North Carolina by 14 points, and narrowly lost Indiana by less than 2 point, and vote counting is still not done.

Senator Obama is now about 200 delegates or less from being the Democratic Presidential Nominee and there's nothing Senator Clinton can do to halt his march. Nothing.

Clinton -- with a looming campaign debt -- is finished. MSNBC's Tim Russert gave the monologue that said it all, and it's here in this video:



We do now know who the Democratic Presidential nominee will be and it's Senator Barack Obama.

Native American Superdelegate Endorses Barack Obama

Kalyn Free...

is a superdelegate and at-large member of the Democratic National Committee. Free, who has endorsed Senator Barack Obama's bid for the nomination of the Democratic party today, is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and the founder and President of Indigenous Democratic Network's (INDN) List, an organization dedicated to training and recruiting Native American political candidates. Obama has shown considerable sensitivity to the issues of First/Native Americans, and appears to be the only candidate with a Tribal Leaders Steering Committee actively participating on the campaign.

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Mildred Loving, Who's Interracial Marriage Was Protected In Court, Passes On

Mildred Loving just wanted to marry her husband in 1967, but for reasons that are totally weird, they were blocked. Challenging Virginia's bigotted laws, they won, opening the door to the destruction of anti-interracial marriage laws that should never have been in place.

Mildred passed on to Heaven this week at 68.

Republican Senator Doing the Troops Wrong

Senator Webb, a VA Democrat, has been the guiding force behind this legislation, which has been dubbed the new G.I. bill. The measure is decidedly bipartisan. Mr. Webb’s principal co-sponsors include Republican Senators Chuck Hagel of NE and John Warner of VA, and Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of NJ. Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are on board, but you just might be surprised at who is not supporting the effort to pay for college for G.I.’s who have willingly put their lives on the line. Read Bob Herbert's piece in today's N.Y.Times and discover it's John McCain.

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May Day / Cinco de Mayo celebration in Minneapolis a hit

Perfect Weather as Minneapolis celebrates May Day and Cinco de Mayo

The annual parade to Powderhorn Park was a big hit this year, the weather was perfect, the floats and marchers were festive and lively, and several prominent Democrats walked the route including U.S. Senate candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak who led a "Minnesota for Obama" contingent prior to the Heart of the Beast puppet theater's magical season-welcoming festival.

It seems Minnesota may be more culturally and ethnically open-minded than some folks on the coast give it credit for. They elected Keith Ellison to U.S. Congress, the first Muslim ever to be so honored, and even at the local level they've elected Satveer Chaudhary, and they surprised pollsters and pundits on Super Tuesday by showing overwhelming support for Barack Obama's candidacy - and lately their female U.S. Senator has announced she's in Obama's corner, too. Maybe they're not as loony as the country thought they might be after putting Jesse Ventura in the Governor's mansion? Well, they know how to do a community festival and a parade right.

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